1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of acquiring positional information to be attached to image data.
This application claims priority to and the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-095841 filed on Apr. 19, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, mobile devices with GPS receivers have increasingly come on the market. Applications or services that allow users to easily acquire current positional information, attach the current positional information to a photograph, and arrange the photograph on an electronic map or inform friends of the current position have been developed.
As a method of attaching positional information to a photograph, for example, there is a method of installing a GPS module in a digital camera. As an alternative method, a GPS receiver called a GPS logger is prepared, a device capable of recording history of GPS positional information acquired by the GPS logger is used when a photograph is taken, and after taking the photograph, at home, the positional information is attached to the photograph while comparing a photographing time of the photograph with history of the GPS positional information acquired by the GPS logger using a dedicated application on a personal computer.
Meanwhile, when it is desired to record positional information in photographs taken when going sightseeing with family or friends, any one person may have a GPS-equipped digital camera. However, it is hard for all people to bring a GPS-equipped digital camera. Further, the GPS logger is necessarily used on the personal computer, and thus post-processing for attaching positional information to a photograph is very bothersome, and is a burden on the user.
As a method of recording positional information in a photograph in a device that is unable to directly acquire positional information, a technique of performing communication for inquiring about whether or not a terminal with a near field communication (NFC) function is nearby, requesting a terminal that has responded to transmit positional information, and receiving the positional information from the corresponding terminal is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication. No. 2004-125490.